Frontiers in Public Health (Mar 2024)

The importance of rapid assessment tools in evaluating mental health in emergency departments among patients with chronic diseases

  • Aditya Lal Vallath,
  • Barath Prashanth Sivasubramanian,
  • Diviya Bharathi Ravikumar,
  • Akshita Lalendran,
  • Suhasini Krishnan,
  • Sudeshna Samanta,
  • Snigda Banerjee,
  • Tania Das,
  • Ritwick Kundu,
  • Vyom Richharia,
  • Ravisha More,
  • Mishika Khithani,
  • Sahana Nazimudeen,
  • Sasidhar Gunturu,
  • Indraneel Dasgupta

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1258749
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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BackgroundRapid screening tools such as the WHO well-being Index (WWBI), Six-item screener (SIS), and the CLOX-1 test can be used to assess overall mental health and cognition, respectively. We sought to evaluate mental health with cognition in individuals with chronic diseases and stable vital signs presenting to the Emergency Department (ED).MethodsAn observational study in the ED with 279 participants was conducted.ResultsChronic diseases were more prevalent among 51–70 years (43.4%) and diabetes was most common (58.8%). Fever (22.6%) and GI bleeding (32.6%) presentation were high. Participants with low WWBI had low SIS compared to the ones with higher scores (83.3% vs. 17.7%, p < 0.001) and also had low CLOX-1 compared to ones with high CLOX-1 (67.3% vs. 5%, <0.001). A positive correlation between WWBI with SIS (correlation coefficient = 0.305, p < 0.001) and CLOX-1 (0.441, <0.001). Regression analysis indicates a positive association between WWBI and the SIS (standardized regression coefficient = 0.187, 95%CI = 0.236–1.426, and p = 0.006) and CLOX 1 (0.338, 0.2–0.463, <0.001).ConclusionIn the ED, the evaluation of mental health even among cognitive impaired is feasible and crucial.

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